This invention relates to an air conduction device for a motor vehicle, in particular, a sports car. Preferred embodiments of the invention relate to an air conduction device for a sports car motor vehicle that extends in a lateral direction of the vehicle, adjacent to a tail lid and that can be moved by an activation device out of a resting position into an operating position and vice versa.
A known air conduction device of the kind mentioned initially, according to DExe2x80x94Porsche Service Information ""96 (corresponding to the Porsche 911 Turbo vehicle) is firmly arranged in the rear vehicle area of a sports car on a tail lid. The aerodynamic properties of the sports car can be optimized with the help of the design of the air conduction device but, in particular, one can also reduce the lift on the rear axle.
An improved air conduction device described in German Patent Document DE 197 41 321 A1 (corresponding U.S. Pat. No. 6,170,904), comprises a tail wing that can be moved out of a retracted resting position into an extended operating position and vice versa. To activate the tail wing, one uses a drive device that has two telescoping extenders arranged at an interval from each other in the lateral direction of the vehicle. The telescoping extenders engage the underside of the tail wing that runs adjacent to a swingable tail hood.
An object of the invention is to so design an adjustable air conduction device for a motor vehicle in the area of a tail lid thatxe2x80x94with good aerodynamic and kinetic functionxe2x80x94it can easily be integrated in structural terms into adjoining mold structures of a superstructure.
This object is achieved according to preferred embodiments of the invention by providing an air conduction device for a sports car motor vehicle that extends in a lateral direction of the vehicle, adjacent to a tail lid and that can be moved by an activation device out of a resting position into an operating position and vice versa, wherein the air conduction device is hinged by a swing arm device on the tail lid which is separably connected with the activation device and operable to move the air conduction device out of a resting position into an operating position.
Other advantageous features of preferred embodiments of the invention are described herein and in the claims.
Principal advantages to be derived from features of preferred embodiments of the invention include the following. The air conduction device is integrated into the superstructure in a spatially favorable manner and contributes to the aerodynamic optimization of the motor vehicle. Moreover, the hinging of the air conduction device on the tail lid according to advantageous features of certain embodiments creates good prerequisites for moving the latter, on the one hand, into various positions and, on the other hand, attaching it to the activation device. The tail lid and the air conduction device can be combined into a prefabricated module according to advantageous features of certain preferred embodiments. The string element of the swing arm device ensures that the air conduction device will cooperate with a specific tension with the activation device or the activation rods according to advantageous features of certain preferred embodiments. The adjusting device, which is connected with the activation rod assembly, can be of a hydraulic, pneumatic, or electrical kind according to advantageous features of certain preferred embodiments. Finally, a locking device is provided between the tail lid and the swing arms of the swing arm device according to advantageous features of certain preferred embodiments. That last-mentioned locking device keeps the air conduction device in the resting position as a result of which the air conduction device is fixed in the resting position during actual driving.